Tonight's Movie: Thunderbolts* (2025)

I've been a big fan of the Marvel movie series for most of its run, enjoying over two dozen Marvel movies and shows.

In addition to the list of Marvel films and series I've reviewed, found at the end of this post, I've also watched the TV series WANDAVISION (2021), HAWKEYE (2021), and LOKI (2021). WANDAVISION and HAWKEYE, in particular, were beautifully crafted and became big favorites of mine.

My viewing of new Marvel films came to a halt starting in 2022, when Marvel seemed to be looking for a new style and began to make less family-friendly films. I skipped DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022), THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (2022), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 (2023), and ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (2023), among others.

These films featured disturbing violence and torture, coarse humor, or in the case of MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS completely ruined a beloved character; Wanda, played by Elizabeth Olsen, lost all the growth she'd experienced in WANDAVISION and became a true villainess.

A couple of my grown kids actually texted as they left the theater to tell me I should "absolutely not" go see a couple of those films; they knew I wouldn't care for the tone or the level of violence. So I was very glad when my daughter saw THUNDERBOLTS* (2025) and texted me "Marvel is back, baby!"

Friends similarly recommended THUNDERBOLTS*, and Justin Chang, a reviewer I often agree with, termed it "The best Marvel film in a while." So today I saw my first Marvel film since 2021.

Is THUNDERBOLTS* (aka THE NEW AVENGERS) among the very best of the long list of Marvel movies I've enjoyed? No, but at the same time I can say I had quite a pleasant time watching it. The cast is congenial, the plot isn't anything particularly disturbing, and there were a couple especially delightful classic moments I really enjoyed.

As the movie opens, a depressed Yelena (Florence Pugh) is missing her late sister Natasha and tiring of her violent job "putting out fires" for CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss). Valentina, incidentally, has way more power than she should and is being impeached by Congress.

As part of the "cleanup" to deal with her impeachment, Valentina concocts a plan to eliminate the team she's been using for various jobs; she'd just as soon her operatives aren't able to talk.

And so Yelena finds herself locked in a remote building with John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko). There's also a strange man named Bob (Lewis Pullman) who has no idea how he got into the building.

Most of this group of ornery superhero misfits manage to escape before they're blown up by Valentina, and they get away aided by Yelena's father Alexei/Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), who is now a Congressman. When Bucky appears on a motorcycle, it's an exciting moment which drew applause.

The group, now calling themselves the Thunderbolts, work to stop Valentina's plans to control the world via Bob, who is revealed to have unexpected powers and is dubbed The Sentry.

The performances of the entire Thunderbolts crew are very good, elevating what could be cartoon characters with nuanced playing, humor, and emotion. Seeing some of these characters again, especially Bucky, Yelena, and Red Guardian, felt like visiting old friends; ultimately, it's the superhero camaraderie which especially makes the Marvel films "movie comfort food."

The movie feels like it should end with a "To Be Continued..." tag; surely Valentina will pay for her crimes at some point?

A couple notes. First, it was a curious coincidence that Lewis Pullman's character is named Bob, which was also the name emblazoned on his flight helmet in TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022). The gag in that film was that unlike all the other pilots with offbeat "handles," he was "just Bob." In this case the name apparently goes back to Sentry comics, but casting Pullman was an interesting choice.

There are two second generation actors among the Thunderbolts; besides Pullman (son of Bill Pullman), Wyatt Russell is the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Russell is actually a third generation actor, his grandfather being character actor Bing Russell.

Finally, I'm wondering: Where is Yelena's mother Melina (Rachel Weisz)?

THUNDERBOLTS was directed by Jake Schreier and filmed by Andrew Droz Palermo. It runs 127 minutes, which is on the shorter side as Marvel films go, and I thought the pace was just right.

Parental Advisory: THUNDERBOLTS* is rated PG-13. There is quite a bit of cursing; otherwise it's a return to the typical Marvel level of violence, nothing particularly graphic.

Let's hope that future Marvel films continue this return to a more family-friendly tone. Up next, out in July, will be THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (2025).

Previous Marvel reviews: IRON MAN (2008), IRON MAN 2 (2010), CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011), THOR (2011), THE AVENGERS (2012), IRON MAN 3 (2013), THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013), CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014), AGENT CARTER (2015), ANT-MAN (2015), AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015), CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016), DOCTOR STRANGE (2016), GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017), SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017), THOR: RAGNAROK (2017), BLACK PANTHER (2018), AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018), ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018), CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019), AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019), SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019), BLACK WIDOW (2021), SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021), and SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021).

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Tonight's Movie: Lust for Gold (1949) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival

One of the recurring themes among the films at the just-concluded Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival was unredeemable lead characters -- so bad they couldn't even be considered antiheroes. They are purely villains!

We saw that with Sonny Tufts in SWELL GUY (1946), James Cagney in KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE (1950), and Glenn Ford and Ida Lupino in LUST FOR GOLD (1949).

LUST FOR GOLD screened at the festival in a beautiful 35mm print. The 90-minute movie was engrossing and featured a remarkably deep cast, but wow, was it ever dark.

As with SWELL GUY, please note that this description is a bit more "spoiler-ish" than usual. Those who care about such things should see the film before reading.

In modern-day Arizona Barry Storm (William Prince) is searching for the Lost Dutchman gold mine discovered by his grandfather Jacob Walz (Ford).

When another mine hunter, Buckley (Hayden Rorke), is gunned down, Barry spends time with the local sheriff (Paul Ford) and his deputies (Will Geer and Jay Silverheels). At the sheriff's station Barry hears tales of the gold mine's infamous history, launching several lengthy flashbacks.

In 1880s Arizona Barry's grandfather Jacob found a fabulous mine in the Superstition Mountains containing millions in gold. Jacob and his friend Wiser (Edgar Buchanan) gun down a couple of men who were at the mine first, and then Jacob in turn kills Wiser so that he won't have to share the gold.

Calculating Julia (Ida Lupino), who owns a small frontier town bakery, sees a good thing for her future and sets out to catch Jacob...and his money. Once she's hooked him into a marriage proposal she belatedly tells Jacob she's still married to Pete (Gig Young).

Jacob, having been married previously himself, isn't too disturbed and gives Julia $2000 to pay for a divorce so they can be married. (Side note, I assume Barry being Jacob's grandson is explained by his prior marriage.)

All bets are off, though, when Jacob overhears Julia tell Pete she's going to know the location of the mine soon. Jacob, Julia, and Pete all end up at the mine where Jacob pins Julia and Pete down with gunshots and refuses to give them water. Before long, all three are dead, thanks in part to a violent earthquake.

Back in the present day, the person who killed Buckley is now trying to bump off Barry...will he find his grandfather's mine?

The movie was fascinating chiefly because of its awful lead characters, with Ford playing an irredeemably evil villain. Jacob gunning down his older partner without a moment's hesitation was a real eye-opener of a scene.

Lupino isn't much better in terms of morality, though it's fun to watch her play the delicate lady, handkerchief fluttering, as she works to ensnare Jacob while entertaining him in her parlor. She's very prim and proper as she shares a photo album and plays the piano, but by movie's end this soft-spoken "flower" is literally stabbing Pete in the back!

It's not a great film, but it's entertaining and certainly holds the attention.

I especially enjoyed the faces which streamed by in quick succession. Those spotted in roles of varying sizes included Myrna Dell, Antonio Moreno, Kermit Maynard, John Doucette, Tom Tyler, Trevor Bardette, Arthur Space, Anne O'Neal, Maudie Prickett, Arthur Hunnicutt, Percy Helton, Karolyn Grimes, Billy Gray, Virginia Farmer, and Harry Cording.

It was especially fun to see Gray as his FATHER KNOWS BEST "sister," Elinor Donahue, just happened to have been in the house to watch the previous film, JOHNNY O'CLOCK (1947).

LUST FOR GOLD was directed by S. Sylvan Simon and the uncredited George Marshall. It was filmed in black and white by Archie Stout. The screenplay by Ted Sherdeman and Richard English was based on the 1945 book THUNDER GODS GOLD by Barry Storm.

LUST FOR GOLD is available on DVD in the 2021 Glenn Ford Western Triple Feature set from Mill Creek/Critics' Choice. The other films in the set are THE MAN FROM COLORADO (1948) and A TIME FOR KILLING (1967).

It also came out on a 2005 DVD from Sony.

For more on this film, please visit Colin's 2009 review at Riding the High Country. I like his point about Jacob's childlike behavior; as for Lupino, he writes "Her character has not one redeeming feature." True! She's a femme fatale for the ages, and she's perhaps the chief reason to see LUST FOR GOLD.

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Tonight's Movie: Swell Guy (1946) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival

I'm back from a terrific long weekend at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival.

I plan to share a festival overview with photos in the near future, but first I wanted to dive right into some reviews while the movies are fresh in my mind. I saw 10 films at the festival, of which half a dozen were new to me; of the four repeat watches, I'd only previously seen one theatrically.

I want to mention at the outset that this particular review contains more plot spoilers than usual, in order to make some points, so anyone wanting to see it "cold" for the first time -- if it can be found! -- should wait to read this review after watching.

The plot of SWELL GUY (1946), a first-time watch, may sound familiar: A long-unseen relative, who's wrongly obtained funds from a wealthy woman, arrives in a small California town with a Spanish name. His visit causes great excitement among family and friends.

One relative is clued in from the outset that the man is, well, not such a "swell guy," but most are oblivious. He ultimately dies a hero in a train accident, leaving many admirers to mourn him, while those most closely impacted by his behavior during his time in town feel nothing but relief that he's gone.

SWELL GUY was written by future director Richard Brooks from the 1921 Gilbert Emery play THE HERO, but I was quite struck by the similarities with Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), which intriguingly was released by the very same studio, Universal Pictures, just three years previously.

That said, while newspaper reporter Jim Duncan (Sonny Tufts) isn't a murderer, SWELL GUY as a whole is a darker picture, as we watch the destructive Duncan spiral into nothingness.

Unhappy, flirty rich girl Marian Tyler (Ann Blyth) ignores the devoted war veteran Mike O'Connor (John Craven) to dally with the older, more glamorous Jim...only to find herself pregnant. And there is zero hope for Jim to do right by her because, as it's shockingly disclosed late in the film, he's already married!

It goes without saying that this is not exactly a typical mid '40s plot. Not only is Jim already married, his seemingly placid sister-in-law Ann (Ruth Warrick), who dreams of traveling, suddenly wants to throw caution to the winds and leave town with Jim, despite her nice husband (William Gargan) and little boy (Donald Devlin).

Although Jim has been leading Ann on -- it's implied he may have had an affair with her as well as Marian -- once he's got what he really wants, money, he meanly mocks and abandons her.

PEYTON PLACE has nothing on the goings-on in this little town, filmed by Tony Gaudio in Anaheim and Glendale. There's a remarkable scene late in the film where fellow reporter Dave Vinson (Thomas Gomez) brutally takes down Jim and eviscerates him for being the rotten phony he is; Jim is ultimately left sprawled on the floor, an utter drunken mess. (And did I mention he's also a gambler?)

An opening narrative card suggests that people harbor both good and evil, but Jim is pretty much entirely evil...except for his final decision to prevent a tragic death, at the cost of his own life. Given that Jim had nothing left to live for at that moment, though, one has to wonder if it was more suicide than altruism.

The movie is a fast-paced 87 minutes, directed by Frank Tuttle, and it was certainly interesting, though I'm not sure I'd be anxious to watch all this doom and gloom a second time. At the same time, I felt fortunate to have been able to see it on a big screen, in an excellent crisp 35mm print; the movie was fascinating and memorable, I'll say that much.

A couple hours after we watched SWELL GUY, Eddie Muller said to the audience "I've never seen a movie quite like that...I'm not entirely sure what I watched the morning."

I'll also note that Ann Blyth biographer Jacqueline Lynch described SWELL GUY as "shocking."

In fact, the movie's most interesting character is played by Blyth; she makes poor decisions but ultimately wises up and grows up. Her final scene implies she finally appreciates her loyal boyfriend, who gives her much more love and kindness than she deserves. One can only hope that she repays his love in kind in the years to come.

Tufts, who could be congenial and occasionally give a strong performance (EASY LIVING), is fairly one note here. He's not so much menacing as annoying; Jim's loser behavior gets old fast, and we never really understand what "makes him tick." But perhaps that's part of the point; his mother's hatred of Jim causes one to think maybe he was simply born bad.

I'd question whether his mother had anything to do with his behavior, but his brother is perfectly normal, so the answer to the question of "nature vs. nuture" seems to land on "nature" here.

Although the ground is loosely laid for Warrick's character's discontent -- she collects travel folders, you see -- it was still a bit shocking that she considers abandoning not just her marriage but her little boy. I didn't really buy that aspect.

The supporting cast also includes Mary Nash, John Litel, Millard Mitchell, Vince Barnett, and Patrick McVey. Great "faces" like Charles Lane, Anne O'Neal, Sarah Selby, and Frank Ferguson also dot the cast.

SWELL GUY is a wild ride of a movie, a look at one man's dark soul and the repercussions of his actions as he operates amidst the imperfect people of a small town. While I wouldn't say I loved it, I'll definitely never forget it.

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Around the Blogosphere This Week...

...is taking this weekend off while I attend the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs, California.

The column will return next weekend on Saturday, May 17th.

For recent news links of interest to classic film fans, please check out my May 3rd column.

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Tonight's Movie: Jennifer (1953) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The Allied Artists film JENNIFER (1953), starring Ida Lupino, was recently released on Blu-ray as part of the Kino Lorber Dark Side of Cinema XXIV collection.

This film, a first-time watch for me, is a compact 73 minutes written by Virginia Meyers and directed by Joel Newton. (Or was it? Kimberly Lindbergs raises questions at Cinebeats, in an article originally written for TCM in 2011.)

Lupino plays Agnes Langley, the new caretaker at a Montecito, California estate which is simultaneously sun-drenched and creepy.

Agnes learns the mansion's last resident, Jennifer, disappeared unexpectedly, and becomes obsessed with discovering what happened. As time passes, Agnes grows more concerned about bits of information she uncovers and conjures up stories about Jennifer ranging from blackmail to murder...but the truth may be more mundane. Or not.

Agnes is romantically pursued, somewhat aggressively, by Jim Hollis (Howard Duff, Lupino's real-life husband). Is he simply interested in Agnes, or does he have other motivations?

JENNIFER succeeds in creating a suspenseful atmosphere, thanks in large part to Lupino's acting and the sunny-yet-shadowy black and white cinematography of the great James Wong Howe.

The script and Lupino leave us wondering right up until "The End" whether Agnes simply has a creative imagination or mental health issues...or is something else going on entirely?

The movie's ambiguous final seconds, which will not be disclosed here, left me dissatisfied. Just when the viewer thinks answers are in hand...well, maybe not?

Along those lines, Jim's pushiness, repeatedly turning up at the estate or elsewhere, was never entirely resolved in my mind. Perhaps the short running time created a need for a fast-moving romance, but if so that ended up inadvertently raising questions about his character. Or perhaps his behavior is a deliberate red herring?

In the end I appreciated the movie's atmospheric ride but not so much the destination, as I didn't care for the uncertain ending.

It's interesting to note that Lupino made JENNIFER back to back with another "creepy house" movie, BEWARE, MY LOVELY (1952). In that period piece she's trapped in her home by a crazy, aggressive handyman (Robert Ryan). She plays a much stronger character in BEWARE, MY LOVELY, but it's interesting she chose projects with thematic similarities so close in time.

The small supporting cast of JENNIFER includes Ned Glass, Robert Nichols, Russ Conway, and Lorna Shipp.

The film's score was composed by Ernest Gold, and there's a notable nightclub performance of the Matt Dennis-Earl Brent song "Angel Eyes," performed by Dennis. The song became a standard recorded by Cole, Sinatra, Fitzgerald, and others.

Kino Lorber's sharp-looking Blu-ray print is from an HD master by Paramount Pictures from a 4K scan. Sound quality is excellent.

Disc extras consist of a commentary track by Kat Ellinger and Martyn Conterio, plus a gallery of three trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

The other films in this set are UNION STATION (1950) and THE CROOKED CIRCLE (1957), which I'll be reviewing at a future date.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Tonight's Movie: City That Never Sleeps (1953) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS (1953), a durably enjoyable '50s film noir, was just released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

It's part of the Dark Side of Cinema XXV collection along with THE FLAME (1947) and the previously reviewed HELL'S HALF ACRE (1954).

I've been fortunate to see CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS twice theatrically, first at UCLA in 2014 and again in 2019 at the Egyptian Theatre. I very much enjoyed returning to it after half a dozen years thanks to Kino Lorber's attractive Blu-ray.

CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS is a bit reminiscent of THE NAKED CITY (1948), following the work of big city cops; in the case of THE NAKED CITY the story took place in New York, while CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS unfolds in Chicago.

Beyond police officers, CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS features a large cast of characters whose lives intersect in different ways one fateful night. The crime and gritty settings contrast with just a bit of an "otherworldy" atmosphere, of which no more will be said.

Gig Young plays Johnny Kelly, who's dissatisfied with every aspect of his life. He became a police officer to please his police detective father (Otto Hulett) but isn't really enjoying it.

His personal life is also a shambles, as he's considering leaving his sweet, pretty wife Kathy (Paula Raymond) for a shrew (Mala Powers) who's a nightclub stripper. Granted, Kathy has a harridan of a mother, but otherwise she certainly seems like the finer of the two options.

The movie follows Johnny through a single night, during which he's considering taking a bribe from Penrod Biddel (Edward Arnold) to help finance blowing town with his lover. A substitute partner (Chill Wills) gently probes Johnny's actions and helps reawaken his conscience.

Another key character on the night in question is Hayes Stewart (William Talman), who plans to blackmail Penrod and run off with his trophy wife, Lydia (Marie Windsor). Johnny's wayward kid brother (Ron Hagerthy) is mixed up in things, too.

It's an engrossing 90 minutes thanks to a top cast and a solid script by Steve Fisher, who also wrote the set's HELL'S HALF ACRE.

The first time I saw the movie I particularly singled out Talman's villain for comment; Talman absolutely aced playing noir villains in the early '50s. Over time my favorite character has become Windsor's duplicitous wife. She's initially all sweetness and light with hubby Arnold, but we soon learn she's carrying on behind his back with Talman. It's a great part for Windsor from first scene to last.

This was the third film I'd seen Arnold in in the past week, having also watched him in DIAMOND JIM (1935) and TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME (1949) last weekend at the TCM Classic Film Festival. He was certainly one of the movies' great "utility players," equally able to conjure audience sympathy or disgust.

Young's cop isn't especially sympathetic, given that he's about to tip over to the "dark side"; also, the father who supposedly pressured him into police work is never seen as anything other than kind and helpful, so it's hard to feel that Young's cop should be so aggrieved. He selfishly doesn't seem to appreciate his family. That said, it's enjoyable following Young's character arc thanks to his experiences and the influence of his temporary partner, Sgt. Joe (Wills).

The movie was directed by John H. Auer and filmed in black and white by John L. Russell Jr., including location work in Chicago. The supporting cast includes Wally Cassell, James Andelin, Tom (Thomas) Poston, and Bunny Kacher. It took me a second to recognize Poston as "Pop" Kelly's partner.

Kino Lorber's print is from a Paramount Pictures HD master from a 4K scan. It looks and sounds very nice.

Disc extras consist of a commentary track by the always-worthwhile Imogen Sara Smith, plus a gallery of three trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

For more on this film, please visit a post written by my late friend Paddy, aka "Caftan Woman," who incisively notes the power of Mala Powers' performance. Truly, every performance in this film is pitch perfect, and it has stood up to repeat viewings over the last dozen years or so.

Recommended.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.

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Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...The Warner Archive Collection has some terrific Blu-ray titles coming in June, including THE CITADEL (1938), THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE (1945), A DATE WITH JUDY (1948), HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951), and EXECUTIVE SUITE (1954). I just saw THE ENCHANTED COTTAGE at the TCM Classic Film Festival and am very glad it's coming to Blu-ray. A DATE WITH JUDY is one of MGM's most colorful musicals and is a perfect choice for Blu-ray.

...The Warner Archive is also releasing four-film Blu-ray collections featuring previous Blu-ray releases with stars such as Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.

...Thanks to reader Ashley for the heads up on an interesting summer release from Kino Lorber Studio Classic: EXCLUSIVE (1937) will be out on Blu-ray on July 15th. Fred MacMurray, Frances Farmer, Lloyd Nolan, and Charlie Ruggles star.

...Kino Lorber's announcement of SHANE (1953), also coming July 15th, is good news for multiple reasons; the listing includes the information that Alan K. Rode, who is doing the commentary track, is writing a book on SHANE for the University of New Mexico Press's Reel West series. Rode's book on BLOOD ON THE MOON, which I wrote about for Classic Movie Hub, was excellent.

...Movie Zyng has Disney DVDs and Blu-rays on sale until May 12th, including a number of "deep cut" titles.

...Here's an interesting upcoming book: PROJECTING AMERICA: THE EPIC WESTERN AND NATIONAL MYTHMAKING IN 1920S HOLLYWOOD by Patrick Adamson. It will be published October 15th by the University of Oklahoma Press.

...Glenn Erickson's latest Blu-ray reviews include Kino Lorber's SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1949) and CRACK IN THE WORLD (1965).

...Leonard Maltin has written a column on interesting prints shown at local screenings, including last weekend's VistaVision showings at the TCM Classic Film Festival.

...This summer Powerhouse Indicator in the UK will release a Region A Blu-ray of SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS (1948) starring Stewart Granger, directed by Basil Dearden. This will be a U.S.-only release.

...Notable Passings: Former child actress Cora Sue Collins, whom I was privileged to see in person on several occasions in recent years, passed on last weekend, days after her 98th birthday. She was one of the last links to filmmaking in the '30s and famously played Garbo as a child in QUEEN CHRISTINA (1933). She's seen here (in green) photographed by me at Cinecon at the Egyptian Theatre in 2018...Will "Sugarfoot" Hutchins died at 94. SUGARFOOT ran on TV from 1957-61...Priscilla Pointer has passed on at 100. The mother of actress Amy Irving, Pointer was perhaps best known as Rebecca Barnes Wentworth on TV's DALLAS...Actress Lar Park-Lincoln of TV's KNOTS LANDING has died at 63.

...Please note that Around the Blogosphere This Week will not appear next weekend on Saturday, May 10th, while I'm attending the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my April 19th column.

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Tonight's Movie: Hi-Jack Highway (1955) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The French film HI-JACK HIGHWAY (1955), also known as GAS-OIL, was recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Based on what little I knew about the movie in advance, I was expecting something of a "hard-boiled" crime film; while it wasn't quite that, I enjoyed it very much.

Jean Gabin plays Jean, a trucker from a small town in France. He lives a low-key but pleasant life; he's surrounded by loyal friends and has a lovely (and much younger) girlfriend, a teacher named Alice (Jeanne Moreau).

Early one morning Jean, who has spent the night with Alice, goes to work but shockingly runs over a body in the road. Was the man already dead? Jean doesn't know, but (unlike Tom Neal's character in the recently viewed DETOUR!) he promptly reports his unhappy road incident to the police.

After some investigation Jean's impounded truck is returned to him by the police and he gets back to work, but he's hounded everywhere he goes by a group of men in a car.

We learn the men were part of a recent bank robbery, along with the mean Jean ran over, and they believe that Jean now has the stolen loot. (Little do they know who actually has it...!) When his apartment is trashed and it's unsafe for Alice to move in as planned, Jean gathers his trucker comrades to put an end to the harassment.

I found HI-JACK HIGHWAY somewhat slow-moving yet engrossing. The first hour is really more a "slice of life" depiction of a working-class trucker's life and relationships, rather than a crime film, and it has a realistic, unglamorous tone. I think the movie would have been interesting even if it focused entirely on these aspects, without the crime elements.

Gradually the crime story moves front and center, as the bad guys stalk Jean throughout the final third of the movie.

The rough-hewn Jean and lovely young Alice seem an unlikely couple, but Gabin and Moreau completely sell us on their comfortable, loving relationship. (I did wonder how the characters first met.)  There was an age difference between the actors of nearly two dozen years in real life, but it doesn't seem quite that marked on film.

The couple's unmarried status is also notable from the standpoint that it's unlikely a relationship could be depicted in quite the same way in a 1955 American film.

Jean, Alice, and their friends are likeable and trustworthy people, in contrast to the criminals Jean encounters, and it's pleasant spending time in their company.

The climax, as Jean and his comrades use their trucks to foil the robbers, is quite fun to watch.

All in all, this is a pleasant 92 minutes which I would gladly watch again.

The movie was scripted by Michel Audiard, based on a novel by Georges Bayle (DU RAISIN DANS LE GAS-OIL). It was directed by Gilles Grangier and filmed in black and white by Pierre Montazel.

Kino Lorber's sharp-looking Blu-ray print is from a 4K restoration.

Extras consist of a commentary track by Simon Abrams; the trailer; and a gallery of nine additional trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

I'll close with the comment that HI-JACK HIGHWAY would make a very nice "trucker noir" double bill with THIEVES' HIGHWAY (1949), which also has a gritty, realistic tone. I like them both.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

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Tonight's Movie: Lili (1953) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

One of many pleasures of the just-concluded TCM Classic Film Festival was revisiting the MGM musical LILI (1953) for the first time in a great many years.

The movie was shown on in Theater 4, the festival's treasure house for viewing rarities and rediscoveries, typically in 35mm; LILI was one of 11 films I saw in 35mm at the festival.

In a happy coincidence, the Warner Archive Collection, which previously put out LILI on DVD in 2012, released LILI on Blu-ray this week, just a couple days after the festival ended.

LILI was a great favorite of my late father's, as he was a big fan of Leslie Caron, and as I've shared here previously our family also had the chance to meet director-choreographer Charles Walters on multiple occasions. The first couple photographs used in this review are stills from my father's collection.

One could describe LILI as a delicate bauble, a short 81-minute gem with a tender, unusual plot, but it works as well as it does thanks to the cast, sensitively directed by Walters.

Caron plays the title role, a young orphan who arrives in a small Parisian town hoping to work in a bakery owned by her deceased father's friend. When Lili discovers the friend has also died and his family has moved away, she's left with no resources and nowhere to go. She's briefly hopeful of a job in another store, but the lecherous proprietor makes clear there is a unthinkable price to pay for a roof over her head.

Lili chances to meet several members of a carnival, including a magician (Jean-Pierre Aumont) and puppeteers (Mel Ferrer and Kurt Kasznar), who take pity on her. Lili's attempt to work as a carnival waitress fails, but her sincere interactions with the puppets lead to success, drawing charmed audiences to the puppeteers' act.

Lili is infatuated with Marc (Aumont), not initially recognizing he's not a good person -- or that he has a wife (Zsa Zsa Gabor)! Meanwhile puppeteer Paul (Ferrer), a bitter former dancer, falls for Lili but is only able to express his feelings through his puppets.

I enjoyed rewatching the film immediately via the new Blu-ray, in part trying to analyze it in greater depth. The movie is touching and sentimental yet manages to avoid being mawkish or manipulative.

Indeed, the film's themes are quite gritty at times, with a young orphan who doesn't know where her next meal is coming from dealing at various points with attempted assault and contemplating suicide. A moment where Paul, in a moment of supreme frustration, slaps Lili may particularly cause modern audiences to wince.

It all somehow comes together for what might be the movie's main overarching theme: Life can simultaneously be painful and ugly yet also very beautiful.

How is it that a movie encompasses all this while having a barely there yet engrossing and unique story? Helen Deutsch's screenplay, based on a story by Paul Gallico, was nominated for an Oscar; I'd suggest the film is also partly stitched together by its memorable Oscar-winning score by Bronislau Kaper. Deutsch collaborated with Kaper to provide the lyrics for the song "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo."

It's hard to imagine someone besides Caron succeeding in this tricky role, part childlike waif and part an emerging woman in love. (I see some similarity to Sonja Henie's child-woman roles a decade previously, such as SUN VALLEY SERENADE.) In particular, Caron completely sells her interactions with the puppets.

I likewise find Ferrer sympathetic in a role which could easily be played as a petulant jerk; the viewer comes to understand him, just as Lili does in the film's final ballet. In that sequence she imagines dancing with her beloved puppets, now human-sized, only to find each one turns into Paul, and she realizes that all of the things she loves in the puppets are actually different facets of their puppeteer.

The movie was beautifully shot in Technicolor by Robert Planck, another Oscar nominee for this film. In addition to the Oscar-winning score and Oscar-nominated screenplay and cinematography, LILI also received Oscar nominations for Best Actress, Director, and Set-Art Direction.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray print is from a new 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the original Technicolor negatives. I enjoyed seeing the film in 35mm last weekend, but parts of it seemed a bit faded; that's not the case with the Blu-ray. The movie's pastel color scheme looks beautiful, with the initial balloon-filled fade-in to the carnival looking especially vibrant.

Disc extras consist of the trailer and a trio of cartoons: THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSUM (1954), PUPPY TALE (1954), and PECOS PEST (1955).

Recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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